Explained: Royal Enfield 650 Twins High Waiting Period

Planning to buy a Royal Enfield 650? Well, you need to be patient as the waiting period for both the bikes is around four to six months across India

The waiting period depends upon the variant you choose, but the minimum is four months.  RE sold more 650 twins in February than KTM sold the 390 Duke or 250 Duke. Demand for the Interceptor 650 is much higher than for the Continental GT 650. 

Since their launch in November last year, the Royal Enfield 650 twins have been a hot topic of conversation amongst bike enthusiasts. With prices starting from Rs 2.5 lakh, both are the most affordable 650cc motorcycles available in India. The closest competitor to the RE twins is the Harley-Davidson Street 750, which costs Rs 5.33 lakh (ex-showroom, Delhi).

Royal Enfield sold more than 1,400 units of the 650 twins in the month of February 2019. That may not seem like much but if you consider the sales performance of other bikes that are available at that price point, the 650 twins are leaps and bounds ahead of everyone. Just to put things into perspective, KTM sold around 290 units of the 390 Duke and 340 units of the 250 Duke in the same time frame. Even the TVS Apache RR 310 is struggling when it comes to sales. The company sold just 246 units of the bike in February.

Such has been the consistent demand for the 650 twins that Royal Enfield is kind of struggling to keep up. As per our dealer sources, the current waiting period for both the motorcycles is four to six months, depending on the variant you choose. The Interceptor 650 has overshadowed its cafe racer-styled sibling when it comes to demand. With its retro-modern looks and upright riding stance, it has emerged as the preferred choice for most buyers over the sporty Continental GT 650.

We don’t expect the demand to taper off anytime soon, as what Royal Enfield is providing is two products with a bang-on value for money proposition. Royal Enfield’s manufacturing facility currently has a capacity of around 2,500 units but it is planning to increase capacity to 5,000 units. Even increasing the capacity two fold might not drop the waiting period down significantly but expect it to taper down at least a bit when production goes into full swing.